After a slower than expected start, Rainbow Six Siege continued to gain a lot of momentum in its first year, prompting Ubisoft to add a second year of content to keep players happy. Operation Velvet Shell introduced two Spanish operators to the diverse roster, and currently, Ubisoft is in the middle of the unplanned Operation Health which is intended to address a variety of issues holding the game back. So far, players have seen hitbox changes, rebalancing, map updates, and many other bug fixes, but with title update 2.2.1.1. the long awaited loot system is finally becoming a reality.

Originally teased at the start of year two for Rainbow Six Siege, the loot system known as Alpha Packs, introduce a chance-based system that contains cosmetic items introduced in previous expansions like the Black Ice weapon skins, along with legendary tier items that can only be found by opening new packs. Ubisoft has confirmed that Alpha Packs can only be earned by playing the game, and won't be available to purchase directly with real money. Title update 2.2.1.1 prepares the game for this system to be implemented and to celebrate, every player is getting one free Alpha Pack.

So when can players start opening packs? While the title update is live right now, Alpha Packs won't be available quite yet. The company is planning to stagger the release across all three platforms to ensure a stable deployment that won't impact game or server performance. At the moment, a specific date isn't known, though Ubisoft has promised a new post next week with all of the new details on this loot system.

While the upcoming arrival of Alpha Packs may be the most exciting aspect of this update, it also contains a number of important fixes for the game. Hibana, added as part of the Operation Red Crow update last year, received a massive reworking of her X-KAIROS Launcher which addresses many of the bugs associated with her unique gadget. The update also adds a new fix on the Kanal map which prevents spawn killing and the bar area on the Coastline map has been completely rebuilt from the ground up and now reacts properly to destruction. Players should expect to see even more fixes and improvements over the coming weeks as Operation Health rolls on.

Rainbow Six Siege is available now on Xbox One, PlayStation 4, and PC.

Source: Rainbow Six Siege Website